Tizi Iginla, the sixth pick in the 2024 NHL Draft and the first player to be selected by the Utah Hockey Club, signed a three-year entry-level contract on Thursday. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“It was really cool to hear the big cheers when they called my name,” Iginla said Tuesday during Utah development camp. “I think the fans have been really welcoming to the hockey team and to me. I think we’re going to have some of the best fans in the league and it’s going to be a lot of fun.”
The 17-year-old forward scored 47 goals in 64 games for Kelowna last season, tied for sixth in the Western Hockey League, and then played in seven games for Canada at the 2024 IIHF World Under-18 Championship, recording 12 points (six goals, six assists) to help the team win the gold medal.
“When I met with him, I said, ‘We have a lot of 20-goal guys on our team, but we’re looking for a 50-goal guy. There’s no pressure,'” Utah general manager Bill Armstrong said June 28. “We really love him, not just as a person, but as a player. He has everything we want.”
Iginla is the son of Hockey Hall of Famer Jarome Iginla and said he will continue to work on improving his game with his father for much of the offseason.
“He’s been huge for me growing up,” Tizi said Tuesday. “It’s good to go home and continue to work on every part of the game with him, and then I have my brother and sister too, so we go out on the ice a lot and just work on whatever we need to do that day.”
“I’m just focused on continuing to improve in all aspects of my game. Making the most of the summer and going into next season, whatever that season may be, just focusing on continuing to improve my game as much as I can.”
Iginla will likely play at least one more season in Kelowna, and is expected to play full-time centre after splitting time between centre and left wing last season.
But Utah’s player development staff is already impressed.
“I think what stood out was his work ethic, his athleticism and his willingness to play on the interior, which is so important in the NHL,” Utah’s director of player development Lee Stempiak said. “That’s where the goals are going to come in. [he has] That enthusiasm is amazing.”
NHL.com independent correspondent Matthew Koma contributed to this report.
